Low voltage plug adapter with organizing rear bonnet

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a low-current outlet comprising: an outlet base ( 2 ) provided with contact pins ( 25 ) to which a plug can be connected by engaging it along a given plug-in axis; and an organizer cap ( 1 ) that can be mounted on the outlet base ( 2 ), which cap ( 1 ), on being fixed to the base, establishes the electrical contact between the conductor wires ( 31, 32 ) of a connection cable ( 3 ) and the contact pins ( 25 ) of the base ( 2 ), the cap ( 1 ) being provided with wire guides ( 11, 12 ) making it possible to position the wires ( 31, 32 ) in three dimensions repetitively and separately so that they are connected electrically to the contact pins ( 25 ) on fixing the cap ( 1 ) to the base ( 2 ); said low-current outlet being characterized in that the cap ( 1 ) can be mounted onto the low-current outlet ( 2 ) from the rear and along said plug-in axis.

The present invention relates to a low-current outlet for use incomputing or in telephony. Such an outlet, e.g. of the RJ45 type,generally comprises an outlet base provided with a pluggable socketcontaining a plurality of (usually eight) contact pins. By means of aplug, it is possible to connect to the contact pins. Naturally, thepluggable socket is situated at the front of the outlet. At the rear ofthe outlet, a connection cable is generally connected toinsulation-displacement contacts which are naturally angularlypositioned perpendicularly to the conductor wires on which theinsulation is to be cut and displaced.

In order to connect the conductor wires of the connection cable, devicesexist for stowing and organizing said wires and for fixing them to theinsulation-displacement contacts of the outlet base. In general, such adevice are in the form of a cap that can be mounted on the outlet base.A typical example of an organizer cap is in the form of a comb throughwhich the conductor wires of the connection cable are caused to pass.The comb consists of an aligned row of wire feed-through channelsdisposed side by side. Therefore, it is relatively difficult andlaborious to thread the wires into their respective wire feed-throughchannels because it is almost obligatory to thread all of the wires inthe same operation. The conductor wires must therefore be disposedside-by-side in aligned manner in a precise order that is distinguishedby different wire colors. The operator in charge of connecting theconnection cable to the outlet in question must therefore perform thislaborious positioning task before it is possible to insert the wiresinto the organizer cap. Once this complicated operation has beenperformed, the organizer cap is mounted laterally onto theinsulation-displacement contacts of the outlet base by exerting a pushforce on the cap so as to engage the wires into the respectiveinsulation-displacement contacts. Once the organizer cap has been pushedin to its maximum engagement position, it is guaranteed that theinsulation on all of the conductor wires will have been cut through tothe cores of the wires by the insulation-displacement contacts. Theconductor wires are thus wired simultaneously.

As mentioned above, the use of such organizer caps is relativelylaborious because of the difficulty encountered in threading all of theconductor wires into their respective wire feed-through channels. Inaddition, it should be noted that the cap configuration in the form of acomb having wire feed-through channels in parallel alignment causes anytraction applied to the connection cable or to the outlet to be exerteddirectly on the cores of the conductor wires wedged in theinsulation-displacement contacts. Any high traction applied to the cableor to the outlet causes the cores of the wires to slide in theinsulation-displacement contacts, or even causes the conductor wires tobe severed.

That problem can be encountered in particular in the outlet described inDocument EP-0 735 612. That outlet conventionally comprises an outletbase and an organizer cap. The outlet base is provided with two rows offour insulation-displacement contacts which point upwards, when theoutlet is positioned as it is to be installed in a wall. The two rows ofcontacts are offset vertically and horizontally one relative to theother, so that they are disposed in the manner of terraces. In addition,the cap also defines two rows of guide holes for the eight wires fromthe cable to be connected. The two rows of four holes open out in offsetmanner so that it is possible to insert the wires into theinsulation-displacement contacts of the outlet base. In that outlet, asin the conventional outlets of the prior art, the cap is mounted ontothe base laterally, i.e. perpendicularly to the plug-in axis along whichthe outlet is plugged. As a result, it suffers from the above-mentionedproblem of the wires being torn out when traction is applied to thecable because they extend substantially rectilinearly to the outlet.

An object of the present invention is to remedy the above-mentioneddrawbacks of the prior art by defining a low-current outlet having anorganizer cap with which it is simpler to install the various conductorwires, and in which the connection performed by the organizer cap isstronger in that any traction applied to the cable is not passed on tothe cores of the wires engaged in the insulation-displacement contacts.

For this purpose, the present invention provides a low-current outletcomprising:

an outlet base provided with contact pins to which a plug can beconnected by engaging it along a given plug-in axis; and

an organizer cap that can be mounted on the outlet base, which cap, onbeing fixed to the base, establishes the electrical contact between theconductor wires of a connection cable and the contact pins of the base,the cap being provided with wire guides making it possible to positionthe wires in three dimensions repetitively and separately so that theyare connected electrically to the contact pins on fixing the cap to thebase;

said low-current outlet being characterized in that the cap can bemounted onto the low-current outlet from the rear and along said plug-inaxis.

Unlike prior art outlets in which the cable, which always comes from therear of the outlet, is mounted laterally into the outlet base by meansof the organizer cap, in the present invention, the cable is broughtinto the outlet base in the same direction as theinsulation-displacement contacts, which requires folding or changing thedirection of the wires in the organizer cap so as to bring themperpendicular to the insulation-displacement contacts.

Advantageously, each wire guide serves to guide one pair of wires, saidguides being disposed in a polygonal geometrical configuration. Thuswith the organizer cap of the invention, the various conductor wires areinstalled in pairs in the organizer cap, which greatly facilitates thisoperation. In general, there are four of said wire-pair guides for aconventional cable comprising four pairs of wires, and they are disposedin a rectangular configuration. Thus, the various pairs of conductorwires are separated in three dimensions.

According to an advantageous characteristic, each wire-pair guidecomprises a common guide duct that is common to the pair of wires, andtwo locking channels for respective ones of the wires of the pair. Inwhich case, the common guide ducts may extend substantially along saidplug-in axis, and the locking channels may extend substantiallyperpendicularly to said plug-in axis.

As a result, the common guide duct and each of the two locking channelsmake an angle such as to form an edge on which the respective wire formsa locking fold. Thus, the conductor wires can be firstly pulled fullythrough the common guide duct, and then folded over into theirrespective locking channels, thereby forming the locking folds at theedges that form the transitions between the common guide duct and therespective locking channels. The locking folds guarantee firstly thatthe wires are pulled fully through the organizer cap so that theshielding of the connection cable or of the individual pairs of wiresextends to as close as possible to the organizer cap, and secondly thatthe wires are held stationary permanently in the organizer cap. Thelocking folds thus perform two functions. In addition, since theelectrical contact with the insulation-displacement contacts isestablished in the locking channels, any traction on the connectioncable is not passed on at the insulation-displacement contacts, butinstead at the locking fold which forms a stop for the folded-over wire.Folding over the wires prior to connecting them also makes it possiblefor the cap to be mounted on the base from the rear, which is easierthan mounting it laterally.

In addition, in order to lock the wires permanently in their respectivechannels, the locking channels are provided with retaining means such aslugs for holding the locked wires in their respective channels. Theedges on which the locking folds are formed already make it possible tolock the wires, but the retaining means, e.g. in the form of lugs,guarantee that the conductor wires are held stationary permanently inthe channels, so that any traction exerted on the cable cannot give riseto the conductor wires being disengaged from their respective channels.

In a practical embodiment, the common guide ducts are open laterally soas to enable the pairs of wires to be inserted laterally into them. As aresult, it is not necessary to thread the pairs of wires into theirrespective pair guides, but rather they can simply be engaged laterallytherein, which greatly facilitates inserting the pairs into the guides.In which case, the wire pair guides are in the form of notches in theorganizer cap, each of which notches opens out at its bottom end in thetwo respective locking channels. The operator in charge of wiring thenmerely needs to organize the four pairs of wires in three dimensions infour divergent directions, to bring the cable end arranged in this wayover the organizer cap, and then to push the four pairs of wiresone-by-one into the laterally-open guides. Then the operator merelyneeds to fold over the conductor wires by pulling them into theirrespective locking channels. The final operation consists merely inmounting the organizer cap on the rear of the outlet base and in pushingit therein until the conductor wires are engaged in theinsulation-displacement contacts.

According to another characteristic, the wire guides are isolatedelectromagnetically from one another by a cross-shaped screening devicewhich extends beyond the electrical contact between the wires and theoutlet base. This characteristic is particularly advantageous whenconnection cables are used in which each pair of wires is shielded witha metal screen. Thus, the electromagnetic screens separating the variousguides make it possible to provide excellent guide-to-guide isolation byextending the isolation provided by the screens on the pairs. In whichcase, it is particularly advisable to pull the pairs of screened cablesas far as possible into the pair guides so as to avoid giving rise toany interruption in the isolation. This operation is particularly simpleto perform with the organizer cap of the invention, because it ispossible to pull the wires strongly through the common guide duct andthen to fold them over the edges into their respective locking channels.The wires are thus locked firmly in their permanent positions so thatslackening of the conductor wires does not give rise to any displacementof said wires in the organizer cap. In another practical embodiment, thebase is provided with insulation-displacement contacts connectedelectrically to the contact pins, each locking channel is provided witha through housing enabling the insulation-displacement contact to beinserted transversely to the wires locked in their respective channels.The fact that the electrical contact is established at the thosesections of the wires which are situated in the locking channelsguarantees a certain amount of independence from the connection cable,in that any traction on the cable is exerted only at the locking foldand not at the insulation-displacement contacts.

In another aspect of the invention, the cap is provided with a drainwire guide that enables the drain wire to be grounded on fixing the capto the base. Thus, in the same way as the conductor wire guides, thedrain wire guide makes it possible, in the same operation of fixing thecap to the base, to put the drain wire in contact with a ground-formingmetal or metal-plated portion.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention appear moreclearly from the following detailed description given with reference tothe accompanying drawings which show embodiments of the presentinvention by way of non-limiting example.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of a low-currentoutlet of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view of the low-current outlet of FIG. 1, shown in theassembled state;

FIG. 3 is an exploded cross-section view of the low-current outlet ofFIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-section view of the outlet of FIG. 3, shown in theassembled state;

FIG. 5 is an exploded cross-section view of another embodiment of alow-current outlet;

FIG. 6 is a cross-section view of the low-current outlet of FIG. 5,shown in the assembled state; and

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the low-current outlet shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

Reference is made initially to FIGS. 1 to 4, to explain a firstembodiment of a low-current outlet of the invention. As can be seen inthe exploded view in FIG. 1, the low-current outlet essentiallycomprises two component parts, namely an outlet base 2 and a rearorganizer cap 1. Both of the parts 1 and 2 may be made of moldedplastic. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the front face of the base 2 facesdownwards and is provided with a pluggable socket in which contact pins25 are disposed, such as the contact pins shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, itbeing possible to connect a plug to the contact pins along a givenplug-in axis. In general, in an RJ45-type outlet, there are eightcontact pins 25. Each contact pin 25 is connected electrically to arespective insulation-displacement contact 21, as shown in FIGS. 3 and4. The insulation-displacement contacts 21 are accessible from the rearof the base 2 when the rear cap 1 is removed, and they extend along theplug-in axis. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the rear face of the base 3faces upwards. An object of the rear organizer cap 1 is to engage theindividual conductor wires of a connection cable 3 in the respectiveinsulation-displacement contacts 21 of the outlet base 2. In theembodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the outlet base 2 is provided with across-shaped screen element 24 which subdivides the outlet base 2 intofour compartments that are well isolated electromagnetically from oneanother. Advantageously, the screen 24 may be made of a metal such asZamak (a zinc alloy). Each compartment defined by the screen 24 containstwo insulation-displacement contacts 21. In the example used for thedescription, an eight-pin outlet base is chosen, the outlet base thushaving eight insulation-displacement contacts 21, but it is alsopossible to provide low-current outlets with more than or with less thaneight contact pins. The number of insulation-displacement contact pinsshould not be considered to be limiting to the invention. The outletbase 2 described above is common to both of the embodiments shown in thefigures, except for the screen 24.

The organizer cap 1 may be mounted on the rear of the outlet base 2,e.g. by snap-fastening. For this purpose, the screen 24 is provided withsnap-fastening catches 240 which enable the rear cap 1 to be fixedpermanently to the outlet base 2. Optionally, in order to hold theorganizer on the base 2 firmly and immovably, a holding ring 25 may beprovided, which ring snap-fastens onto the screen 24 while bearingagainst the cap 1.

The rear organizer cap 1 has a cross-sectional area that is somewhatsmaller than the cross-sectional area of the outlet base 2, so that thecap can be inserted into the base 2. In the example shown in FIGS. 1 to4, in which a screen 24 is implemented, the organizer cap 1 is providedwith a central insertion passageway 16 allowing the cross-shaped topportion of the screen 24 to pass through it. In the assembled state, thesnap-fastening catches 240 on the screen 24 bear against the top face 10of the cap 1 at the ends of the cross-shaped passageway 16. Permanentfixing is thus obtained.

According to an advantageous characteristic of the invention, theorganizer cap 1 is provided with four wire-pair guides 11 disposedrelative to one another in a manner such as to form a rectangle. Eachguide 11 corresponds to a compartment in the base 2 as defined by thescreen 24. It can be seen that each wire-pair guide 11 has an elongatesection, enabling a pair of wires disposed side-by-side to be insertedthrough it. Those portions of each the guide 11 which are visible fromthe face 10 of the cap 1 constitute a common guide duct 11 enabling apair of wires 31, 32 to pass through it. The common guide duct 11 passesthrough the cap 1 from the surface 10 to the other side. It is thuspossible to pass the wire pairs 31, 32 separately through the cap 1 byengaging them respectively in their respective guide ducts 11. The factthat the common guide ducts 11 are disposed in a polygonal geometricalconfiguration (a rectangular configuration in the present case) greatlyfacilitates the operation of inserting the wires through the organizercap 1. Whereas in the prior art, it is essential to dispose theconductor wires in the same plane in a well aligned and ordered manner,by means of the organizer cap 1 of the invention, it is possible toorganize them three-dimensionally in pairs and then to insert the pairsone-by-one into their respective common guide ducts 11. In this way, aconsiderable amount of time is saved when wiring the outlet. Once thefour wire pairs 31, 32 have been inserted through the cap 1 by beingengaged in the common guide ducts 11, the operator can pull on the wiresto bring the shielding screen 30 of the cable 3 as close as possible tothe cap 1. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, if each pair of wires 31, 32 isindividually isolated by a screen 33, it is possible to pull on thewires on the other side of the cap 1 so as to cause the shielding screen33 of the each of the individual pairs to penetrate at least in partinto the respective common guide duct 11. Since the outlet base 2 isprovided with an isolating screen 24, there is no interruption in theisolation between the cable 3 and the outlet of the invention. As can beseen in FIG. 4, the shielding screen 30 of the cable 3 is pulled untilit comes into contact with the top portion of the screen 24 while theshielding screens 33 of the respective pairs penetrate into the commonguide ducts 11. It is then possible to fold over the conductorsindividually so as to engage them individually into locking channels 12which extend perpendicularly to the guide channels 11 and which are openover their lengths to the front of the cap, as can be seen in FIG. 1.Thus, each guide duct 11 opens out laterally into two locking channels12. It can be understood from FIG. 1 that four locking channels 12 openout laterally on either side of the cap 1. With reference to FIGS. 5 and6, it can be seen that, at the inlet of each of the locking channels 12,the cap 1 forms a projecting edge 13. Thus, when the operator folds overthe individual wires into the locking channels 12, said wires areconstrained to form locking folds at the edges 13. This locking fold oneach of the conductor wires offers several advantages. Firstly, thefolds make it possible to fix the position of the cable 3 permanentlyrelative to the cap 1. In addition, the locking folds make it possibleto bring the wires perpendicular to the insulation-displacement contacts21. Furthermore, the locking folds make it possible to leave thoseportions of the wires which are engaged in the channels 12 substantiallyfree from stress whenever traction is applied to the cable 3. Unlike thedevice of the prior art, in which the wires are merely engaged in theorganizer cap and are free to slide therein, with the organizer cap ofthe invention, the wires are locked inside, which fixes the position ofthe cable 3 relative to the cap 1 permanently and immovably even beforeit is fixed to the base 2.

In order to prevent the sections of conductor wire from disengaging fromthe locking channels 12, said channels are provided with retainingmeans, e.g. in the form of retaining lugs 120 that, in each channel,define a through sectional area that is slightly smaller than thesectional area of each of the conductor wires so that, once they havebeen engaged under force into the locking channels 12, the conductorwires can no longer be disengaged therefrom. The locking fold formed onthe edge 13 is thus permanently fixed in position. In addition, in orderto enable the insulation-displacement contacts 21 to be engagedtransversely onto the sections of conductor wire engaged in the lockingchannels 12, through insertion housings 14 are provided, which housingsare disposed in a manner corresponding to the geometrical configurationof the insulation-displacement contacts 21.

With reference, for example, to FIGS. 3 and 4, or 5 and 6, a descriptionfollows of an operation of fixing an organizer cap 1 to a base 2. Onceall of the conductor wires have been correctly installed in theorganizer cap 1, as shown in FIG. 5, it is optionally possible to cutoff the ends of the wires so that they do not extend beyond the cap 1.Then, it is necessary merely to mount the cap 1 from the rear into thesocket 30 formed by the base 2 until the snap-fastening catches 22 onthe base 2 snap-fasten to the organizer cap 1. Once this position hasbeen reached (FIGS. 4 and 6), it is guaranteed that the conductor wiresare properly engaged in the insulation-displacement contacts, therebyestablishing the electrical contact with the contact pins 25. Thelow-current outlet of the invention is then operational.

FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment of a low-current outlet of theinvention. The variant incorporated in this second embodiment, lies inthe design of the organizer cap 1, while the base 2 is identical exceptthat it does not include an isolating screen 24 compartmentalizing thebase 2 into four electromagnetically isolated spaces. The particularityincorporated in the organizer cap 1 shown in FIG. 7 lies in the factthat the common guide ducts 11 are open laterally so that it is possibleto engage the pairs of wires laterally into the ducts 11. Whereas, inthe first embodiment, it is necessary to insert the wires into the ducts11 from the face 10 of the cap 1, with the cap 1 shown in FIG. 7, it ispossible to engage them more simply by inserting them laterally. Inaddition, this type of cap 1 is provided with a drain wire guide 15making it possible to connect the drain wire to ground on fixing the cap1 to the base 2.

By means of the organizer cap 1 of the invention, it is possible tosubdivide the cable 3 into pairs, and then consecutively to position thepairs of wires one after another, so that the wiring operation is muchsimpler. It should also be noted that the cap is placed on the base fromthe rear, which means that the locking folding of the wires withstandstraction. In addition, the screen 24 makes it possible to isolate thepairs of wires to beyond the insulation-displacement contacts, whichguarantees shielding continuity between pairs even if the shielding ofthe pairs disappears at the ducts.

What is claimed is:
 1. A low-current outlet comprising: an outlet baseprovided with contact pins to which a plug can be connected; and a rearcap that can be mounted on the rear of the outlet base, which cap, onbeing fixed to the base, establishes the electrical contact betweenconductor wires of a connection cable and the contact pins of the base,the cap being provided with wire-pair guides making it possible toposition the wires so that they are connected electrically to thecontact pins on fixing the cap to the base; wherein each wire guideserves to guide one pair of wires, said guides being disposed in apolygonal geometrical configuration.
 2. A low-current outlet comprising:an outlet base provided with contact pins to which a plug can beconnected; and a rear cap that can be mounted on the rear of the outletbase, which cap, on being fixed to the base, establishes the electricalcontact between conductor wires of a connection cable and the contactpins of the base, the cap being provided with wire-pair guides making itpossible to position the wires so that they are connected electricallyto the contact pins on fixing the cap to the base; wherein eachwire-pair guide comprises a common guide duct that is common to thewires, and two locking channels for respective ones of the wires of thepair.
 3. A low-current outlet according to claim 2, in which the commonguide ducts extend substantially along said plug-in axis by passingthrough the cap, and the locking channels extend substantiallyperpendicularly to said plug-in axis over the front of the cap, whilebeing open over their lengths.
 4. A low-current outlet according toclaim 2, in which the common guide duct and each of the two lockingchannels make an angle such as to form an edge on which the respectivewires form locking folds.
 5. A low-current outlet according to claim 2,in which the locking channels are provided with retaining means such aslugs for holding the locked wires in their respective channels.
 6. Alow-current outlet according to claim 2, in which the common guide ductsare open laterally so as to enable the pairs of wires to be insertedlaterally into them.
 7. A low-current outlet according to claim 2, inwhich the base is provided with insulation-displacement contactsconnected electrically to the contact pins, each locking channel isprovided with a through housing enabling the insulation-displacementcontact to be inserted transversely to the wires locked in theirrespective channels.
 8. A low-current outlet comprising: an outlet baseprovided with contact pins to which a plug can be connected; and a rearcap that can be mounted on the rear of the outlet base, which cap, onbeing fixed to the base, establishes the electrical contact betweenconductor wires of a connection cable and the contact pins of the base,the cap being provided with wire-pair guides making it possible toposition the wires so that they are connected electrically to thecontact pins on fixing the cap to the base; wherein the wire guides arcisolated electromagnetically from one another by a crossshaped screeningdevice which extends beyond the electrical contact between the wires andthe outlet base.
 9. A low-current outlet comprising: an outlet baseprovided with contact pins to which a plug can be connected; and a rearcap that can be mounted on the rear of the outlet base, which cap, onbeing fixed to the base, establishes the electrical contact betweenconductor wires of a connection cable and the contact pins of the base,the cap being provided with wire-pair guides making it possible toposition the wires so that they arc connected electrically to thecontact pins on fixing the cap to the base; wherein the cap is providedwith a drain wire guide that enables the drain wire to be grounded onfixing the cap to the base.